Trenton man sentenced to five years on assault weapons charge

TRENTON — A Trenton man was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty in March to charges stemming from a New Jersey State Police investigations targeting weapons trafficking in Trenton.

Jameel Harris, also known as Riley Harris, was sentenced five years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibility. According to authorities, the 32-year-old sold an assault rifle with a fully loaded assault rifle with fully-loaded large capacity magazine to a cooperating witness in “Operation Gravedigger.” Harris pleaded guilty on March 16 to second-degree unlawful possession of an assault firearm.

Harris was charged as a result of “Operation Gravedigger” that resulted in four indictments charging a total of 11 city residents in connection with the sale of 16 firearms that included three assault rifles, five other rifles, five handguns and three shotguns.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said that Harris sold a sawed-off Olympic Arms AR-15 semi-automatic assault along with a large capacity magazine loaded with 84 .223 rounds to a cooperating witness for $1,200 on May 14, 2012 near the 200 block of Hamilton Avenue.

Harris was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Cassandra Serentino, who took his guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Daniel I. Bornstein represented the Division of Criminal Justice at the sentencing.

“It’s hard to overstate the harm that can be inflicted with an assault rifle of the type the defendant sold, loaded with 84 rounds,” said Attorney General Chiesa. “We will continue to work aggressively to lock up those who traffic guns into violence-torn communities like Trenton.”

Harris is one of 57 defendants indicted last year under an initiative launched by Attorney General Chiesa, in which the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police are aggressively targeting gun violence through investigations focused on seizing existing weapons in violent areas, disrupting weapons trafficking into those areas, and aggressively prosecuting criminals involved in the illegal sale and possession of weapons, The Attorney General’s office said.

Most of the defendants are subject to the strict penalties under the Graves Act, which requires mandatory periods of parole ineligibility.

According to the release issued by the Attorney General’s office, the New Jersey State Police Intelligence section more than doubled the number of detectives assigned specifically to weapons trafficking. Two New units the Weapons Trafficking North and South were formed, tripling the annual gun seizures.